Was your bike stolen in Halifax? Here's what to do

Halifax Regional Police is looking to identify the owners of dozens of recently recovered bikes and scooters.

Gobinda Khadka is one of those owners. Within the past two weeks, he had three of his bikes stolen.

"It was stolen from my parking spot. It's an apartment, like indoor parking, but somebody from the outside trespassed, and then they stole my three bikes," said Khadka.

On Tuesday, he was able to get one of them back -- just a day after police put out a notice saying officers recovered 40 bicycles, scooters, and parts.

"We haven't seen anything of that magnitude in quite a while. That's why we're reaching out to the public," said Halifax Regional Police Const. John MacLeod.

He said they were found in the Barrington Street area near the Macdonald Bridge onramp.

"We know that we believe most of these have been stolen, and we are reaching out to the public to see if we can get them identified and return them to their owners,” he said.

MacLeod said anyone who believes their bike may be part of this batch should reach out to police's Lost and Found Property division, and provide as much information about their bike as possible, including make, model, colour, and serial number.

Khadka happened to have a photo of his bike, which made the recovery process easier. He is still waiting to see whether his other two bikes were found.

"I found one out of three. I'm really hopeful there, but if I do not get them all, I'm happy because I get one," he said.

According to MacLeod, recently there has been a bit of a spike in thefts in the downtown core.

Around Halifax, there have been 111 reported bike thefts so far this year. There were 99 in 2019, and 87 in 2020.

There has been quite an increase ever since, with 151 in 2021. Over the past two years, similar numbers were reported, with 141 in 2022 and 150 in 2023.

"Very often people may not report these," said MacLeod. "It is important to us that that information gets reported, certainly then we can investigate the particular incidents, and also so that we can look at the patterns that may be occurring as well that will help us with those investigations."

MacLeod said there are ways to try to prevent bike thefts from happening.

"It's always good practice if you leave your bike somewhere to lock it up. These are crimes of opportunity and the more difficult you can make for someone, the better off that it would be," said MacLeod.

At this point, no arrests have been made in this case.

"We are investigating and will continue to do so, and certainly any time a theft is reported to us, we would investigate it fully and hopefully bring it to charges," said MacLeod.

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